>>>The concept of 'buy American' has been around (and advertised as buy 'made in America' - I remember the VISA commercials - clothing ) for probably 20-30 years.
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>>The thing is, though, that a fair chunk of the stimulus spending is tied to the companies receiving this money being required to "buy U.S. made equipment and materials", such as heavy machinery (Caterpillar) and construction materials (Alcoa), etc. Canadians actually have started getting pretty steamed about this, and it was a topic of discussion when Obama went there recently (for, what, 6 hours?) The Chinese have been making noise about this as well, and there is a fear of a new wave of global protectionism rising as a result of this requirement.
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>>One could ask, though, that if the U.S. taxpayers (or their children and grandchildren, as the case may eventually be) provide the money, shouldn't the funds benefit their own country first and foremost. The idea of the whole stimulus package, after all, is to get the U.S. economy back up and running, which in due time will have a direct positive trickle down or "echo" effect on other countries, as well.
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>>So, this is a little different than the old Buy American campaign. But you probably knew this already <g>
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>"Buy American" is/was a political grandstanding. Do Alcoa or Caterpillar produce everything in USA only? There are many USA companies with production facilities exclusively in Mexico and/or China. Finally, comes the fact that just 10% in the stimulus package can be somehow linked to government buying industrial goods.

Right-o, most U.S. companies have a lot of production in other countries, so it is not by all means a clear-cut thing. I believe, but am not positive, that the "buy U.S. made equipment and material" clause also applies to all construction companies that receive stimulus money. IOW it doesn't apply only to purchases made by the government.